[5][6] Oakland Roots began by signing three Oakland-raised players in the spring of 2019: Devante Dubose, Julio Cervantes and Yohannes Harish.

[9][10][11] The club announced Bay Area native and former MLS player and Colorado Rapids technical director Paul Bravo as its first head coach on May 9, 2019.

[13] Oakland Roots played eight games in their inaugural season: six in NISA and two friendlies against Mexican clubs FC Juarez and Atlético Zacatepec.

[26] Initially, in 2017, the USL approved a bid from real estate developer Mark Hall to bring a soccer team to Concord, California, instead of Oakland.

[27][28] The team, called USL East Bay, planned to play in a 15,000+ seat soccer-specific stadium complex before the development idea was scrapped in May 2020.

[34] The team was set to kick off the USL Championship home season on June 19 against Sacramento Republic FC, but the match was called off due to field issues.

[36] The team went on to play multiple games at Las Positas College before finishing the season back home at Laney.

Following this triumph, Oakland proceeded to secure 34 points in 19 games, ultimately earning the final Pacific Division playoff position on the last day of the season after a 1-0 win against Sporting Kansas City II.

[38] Oakland upset the Mountain Division Champions El Paso Locomotive in the first round of the playoffs, breaking a 470-day home unbeaten run by the Texas side.

The Roots’ playoff run came to an end the following weekend when the team lost 6–5 on penalties against Orange County SC after 120 minutes of scoreless action.

[42] On September 18, 2023, the team announced that Green Day singer Billie Joe Armstrong joined the ownership group for the Roots.

[2] On October 26, 2023, the team announced that NBA Head Coach Jason Kidd joined the ownership group for the Roots.

This led the club to shift home matches to Pioneer Stadium on the campus of CSU East Bay for the entirety of the 2023 season.

[45] Kevon Looney of the Golden State Warriors wore a Roots t-shirt on the bench during a regular season NBA game.

[53] Underground rappers Murs and The Grouch performed prior to the team's March 7, 2020 match against Michigan Stars FC.